Flip Flops Can Reduce Knee Pain

By Margarita Nahapetyan

For those who suffer have knee pain from arthritis, wearing flatter and more flexible shoes may reduce the complications associated with osteoarthritis in the joints and keep them much more comfortable, says a new research.

The scientists at Rush University in Illinois came to the conclusion that flat shoes, such as flip flops, provide better support and help to the knee, when compared to walking shoes, clogs or the shoes with heels. According to the experts, footwear that provide arch support can take pressure away from joints like the ankles, but add more pressure to the knees. In turn, footwear with flat and flexible soles restore the pressure to the bottom of the foot, and over time reduce the damage to the knee and, as a result, can help stop the development of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and a significant source of disability and impaired quality of life. A higher-than-normal pressure of a person's weight onto the knee joint is a key factor that is associated with the development of the condition. That is why the type of shoes a person wears especially during walking needs to be chosen very carefully, Dr. Najia Shakoor a principal author of the study said.

For the purposes of their study, Dr. Shakoor and her team analyzed the gait of 31 individuals with symptoms of osteoarthritis in the Rush Motion Analysis Laboratory. All the participants were split into several groups and were asked to walk either barefoot or to wear four popular shoe types, including Dansko clogs, which are usually worn by healthcare professionals who are on their feet most time of the day; Brooks Addiction stability shoes, which are often prescribed for the comfort of the feet; Puma H-Street shoes, a flat athletic footwear with flexible soles; and flip-flops.

The results revealed that, when it came to the clogs and stability shoes, the pressure on the knee joints was up to 15 per cent higher when compared to the flat walking shoes, flip-flops or walking barefoot. Pressure on the knees was roughly the same whether participants wore flips-flops or walked without any footwear.

Previous studies have demonstrated that barefoot walking is linked to lower knee pressure and is much more beneficial than walking wearing the conventional footwear. The experts further explained that it may be that the flexible movement of the bare foot is mechanically advantageous. It could be that the natural flex of the foot when it touches the ground, decreases the impact on the joint, compared to the artificial stomping movement created by a stiff-soled shoe.

The findings are reported online in the journal Arthritis Care and Research. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.